50 Famous Leaders And Career Advice That Shaped Them

We often turn to famous leaders for nuggets of brilliance on how to motivate people or how to achieve success like theirs. Often they will give us advice reaped from years of experience and trial-and-error, but sometimes they will pass along the wise words of a parent or mentor that was delivered at just the right time and hugely impacted them and their career.

Here is the advice that shaped some of the country’s best-known leaders in many different walks of life.

As the president’s top advisor, Axelrod is a key player in the country’s leadership. He learned from former presidential candidate Gary Hart that Washington is “the last place to get the news” and to ignore what the popular opinion there says.

This was an old general’s advice to a young officer wanting to rise in the ranks, which Powell always remembered. He said becoming a general starts with becoming a first lieutenant by working hard, never showing fatigue, and never showing fear.

Nobel Prize-winning Holocaust survivor Elie Wiesel’s words to the 43rd president deeply affected his decision to intervene in Iraq, one of the defining acts of his political career.

6. Jimmy Carter: “Always do your best.”:An intimidating navy admiral got the future POTUS to admit he had not done his best in college despite graduating 59th out of 820 students. He always remembered the lesson.

In the 1980s, a superior officer suggested Petraeus try something different intellectually, so he got a Ph.D. in international relations. The experience helped him become the top military officer in Afghanistan and director of the CIA.

At the age of 12, this future Senator followed his older brother John to the White House, the Supreme Court building, and the Senate. His hope of instilling a lifelong interest in government in the young Ted worked.

When he was Speaker of the House, Gingrich got some advice from none other than Joe Paterno on leading. He told him to first have the game plan straight in his own head, then get it straight with your support staff, then deliver it to the rest of the team.

Sports

As the captain of the last two world championship U.S. men’s gymnastics teams and leader of the Olympic squad, Horton relies on the advice his coach gave him to always be consistent in the way he trains and performs.

The Costco co-founder and CEO learned from one his early bosses that the best way of encouraging employees to have pride in their work and the business is not to tell them out loud but to show them his conviction with his own actions.

She’s more than just a leading model; Banks also acts as CEO for her company, Bankable Enterprises. She learned from her mother that every project comes to an end and to always have a plan in mind for the next opportunity.

When trying to decide if he should return to Apple as CEO, Jobs called his friend Robert Noyce, he told him in no uncertain terms he personally did not give a rip about Apple. The “advice” was unconventional, but it made Jobs realize he did care about the company.

Billionaire philanthropist and hedge fund manager Soros once met an anti-Communist dissident who told him he had spent his entire life fighting losing battles, which Soros believes sums up philanthropic work perfectly.

Netflix founder and CEO Hastings has steered his company based on Jim Collins’ idea that having an effective strategy means making difficult decisions to not do things, rather than have a giant “to-do” list.

Science

The mother of this leading authority on chimpanzees told her not to listen to those who said she’d never be able to go to Africa to live with wild animals. Work hard and make use of your opportunities, she said, and never, ever give up.